The present invention is directed to gambling units and, more particularly, to n electronic gambling unit having an enclosed seating unit.
Electronic gaming units in general, and electronic gambling units in particular, have many different form factors. For example, some electronic gambling units have an upright form factor that generally requires a user to stand while playing the gambling unit. Alternatively, some electronic gambling units have a console form factor that generally requires a user to sit in a gaming chair to be comfortable while playing the gambling unit.
There are various configurations that a gaming chair may take. For example, a user may sit on a stool, a common chair or a specially designed chair that may or may not be physically connected to the electronic gambling unit that the user is playing. As will be readily appreciated, gaming chairs may run the gamut from somewhat uncomfortable to rather comfortable. Some gaming chairs may include various features designed to enhance the experience of the user while the user plays the electronic gambling unit.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,177 to Takemoto et al. discloses a gaming chair having a seat, a back and a support member, all of which face a gaming machine played by the person sitting in the seat. Additionally, the Takemoto et al. patent discloses that the gaming chair may have an armrest including an operation section, which the user may employ to play the gaming machine, and a card read/write section. The gaming chair of the Takemoto et al. patent may also include a vibration generator and a loudspeaker that may be used to enhance the game playing experience of the user.
In one aspect, the invention is directed to an electronic gambling unit for allowing a user to play a video gambling game selected from the group of video gambling games consisting of video poker, video slots, video blackjack, video bingo and video keno. The electronic gambling unit comprises a seating unit with a seat adapted to allow the user to sit thereon, an enclosure that defines a partially enclosed space, at least a portion of the seat being disposed in the partially enclosed space defined by the enclosure, and an occupancy sensor capable of generating an occupancy signal in response to the user sitting in the seating unit.
The electronic gambling unit also comprises a display unit associated with the seating unit that is capable of generating color images and a support mechanism coupled to the seating unit that is capable of supporting the display unit in a plurality of positions, including a first position in which the display unit occupies a position that does not impede the user from sitting down in the seat in the enclosure and a second position in which the display unit is disposed substantially in front of the user when the user is sitting on the seat.
The electronic gambling unit further comprises an input device that allows the user to make a plurality of input selections when the user is seated on the seat, a currency-accepting mechanism that is capable of allowing the user to deposit a medium of currency, and a controller operatively coupled to the display unit and the input device.
The controller comprises a processor and a memory operatively coupled to the processor and is programmed to allow the user to make a wager via the input device after the currency-accepting mechanism detects deposit of currency by the user. The controller is also programmed to cause a sequence of video images to be generated on the display unit after the currency-accepting mechanism detects deposit of currency by the user, The sequence of video images represents a video gambling game selected from the group of video gambling games consisting of video poker, video slots, video blackjack, video keno and video bingo.
At least one of the images comprises an image of at least five playing cards if the video gambling game is video poker, at least one of the images comprises an image of a plurality of simulated slot machine reels if the video gambling game is video slots, at least one of the images comprises an image of a plurality of playing cards if the video gambling game is video blackjack, at least one of the images comprises an image of a bingo grid if the video gambling game is bingo, and at least one of the images comprises an image of a keno grid if the video gambling game is keno.
The controller is also programmed to determine, after the sequence of images has been displayed, an outcome of the video gambling game represented by the sequence of images, to determine a currency payout associated with the outcome of the video gambling game, and to cause the support mechanism to move the display unit from the first position to the second position in response to receiving the occupancy signal generated by the occupancy sensor.
In another aspect, the invention is directed to an electronic gambling unit for allowing a user to play a video gambling game. The electronic gambling unit comprises a seat adapted to allow the user to sit thereon, an occupancy sensor associated with the seat that is capable of generating an occupancy signal in response to the user sitting in the seat, and an enclosure that defines a partially enclosed space. At least a portion of the seat is disposed in the partially enclosed space defined by the enclosure, and the enclosure is sized to partially enclose the user when the user sits on the seat.
The electronic gambling unit also comprises a display unit associated with the seating unit that is capable of generating color images and a support mechanism coupled to the seat that is capable of supporting the display unit in a plurality of positions, including a first position in which the display unit occupies a position that does not impede the user from sitting down in the seat in the enclosure and a second position in which the display unit is disposed substantially in front of the user when the user is sitting on the seat.
The electronic gambling unit also comprises an input device that allows the user to make a plurality of input selections when the user is seated on the seat, a currency-accepting mechanism that is capable of allowing the user to deposit a medium of currency, and a controller operatively coupled to the display unit and the input device.
The controller comprises a processor and a memory operatively coupled to the processor and is programmed to allow the user to make a wager via the input device after the currency-accepting mechanism detects deposit of currency by the user. The controller is also programmed to cause a sequence of video images to be generated on the display unit after the currency-accepting mechanism detects deposit of currency by the user. The sequence of video images represents a video gambling game, and the controller is programmed to determine, after the sequence of images has been displayed, an outcome of the video gambling game represented by the sequence of images and to determine a currency payout associated with the outcome of the video gambling game. The controller is also programmed to cause an action to be automatically undertaken in response to receiving the occupancy signal generated by the occupancy sensor.
These and other features of the present invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the description of the preferred embodiments, which is made with reference to the drawings, a brief description of which is provided below.